Washington state rejects Obama’s plan to let people keep current health plans

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is rejecting President Barack Obama’s call Thursday to allow more people to keep health insurance plans that would be canceled under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“I understand that many people are upset by the notices they have recently received from their health plans and they may not need the new benefits today,” Kreidler said in a statement Thursday.“But I have serious concerns about how President Obama’s proposal would be implemented and more significantly, its potential impact on the overall stability of our health insurance market.”

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Kreidler said he was concerned that backpedaling on the canceled plans could harm the insurance market in this state, and jeopardize consumer protections that the state has enacted since the passage of the ACA.

“I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington,” Kreidler said. “In the interest of keeping the consumer protections we have enacted and ensuring that we keep health insurance costs down for all consumers, we are staying the course. We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies. I believe this is in the best interest of the health insurance market in Washington."

If Kreidler did allow insurance companies to extend these plans, it would continue the problem in the existing system. That is, it would create two separate pools of healthy and sick people, said Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for Kreidler's office.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/health-care-inc/2013/11/washington-state-rejects-obamas-plan.html?ana=e_ptl_hc&page=all

[bigdarryl]

1. In other words FUCK YOU Obama

I knew this would happen because without Legislation from Congress this isn't going to work because the insurance companies are ASS HOLES!!!

[sobenji]

2. I think he's wrong.

The people get cancelled are By and large the sick people the insurance companies are trying to kick out. If you have an individual insurance policy and if it qualifies for grandfathering i.e. you have it more than four years, you're probably sick. You probably didn't go buy into a new policy because nobody would take you. By allowing the insurance companies to push those onto the exchanges, all we are doing is lining their pockets.
Read up on death spirals. Those are the plans that are getting canceled by the insurance companies. It's a very sick group.

[eridani]

3. You are absolutely guaranteed NOT to be sick if you have one of those plans

The lack of coverage and high deductibles would bankrupt any seriously sick patient within a few months.

[sobenji]

4. You're missing the point.

It isn't just junk policies that this affects.
It's also good comprehensive individual health Ins that people have had for more than 4 years that had "material changes" made to the policy. If you've had an individual policy for that long, then you're definitely sick, otherwise you would switch every year for lower premiums. Death Spiral

[eridani]

5. You're right--most insurance is inadquate.

That's why we need single payer. What people in this country think of as "Cadillac" insurance, people in civilized countries just call "health care."